Premium Insights and analysis What works: getting to the land of ‘how’ – part 2 Wednesday July 1, 2020 By Nicholas Gruen Thought Leadership In this second installment of his three-part series, economist and forward thinker Nicholas Gruen explains more of why it is so important to understand the… Read more
Premium Expert briefings What works: getting to the land of ‘how’ – part 1 Wednesday July 1, 2020 By Nicholas Gruen Features Government leaders understanding what they need to do when faced with impending issues is one thing. But here, in the first of a three-part series,… Read more
The nine policy experts answering the burning questions facing public sector leaders Tuesday June 16, 2020 By Shannon Jenkins News With nine members from a range of backgrounds, including Lucy Turnbull, Geoff Gallop, and Richard Bolt, the Select Committee provides comment and insight into key… Read more
Premium The Select Committee Introducing The Select Committee – The Mandarin Brains Trust Thursday June 11, 2020 By Chris Johnson Editors' Picks The Mandarin has asked nine highly skilled high achievers to form a panel we are calling The Select Committee. These people are huge contributors to… Read more
Premium Columnists David Gruen and the ABS’s overhaul of its jobs data-gathering will give us current information to act on Tuesday April 21, 2020 By Bernard Keane Appointing Dr David Gruen as the Australian Statistician has turned out to be one of the better and most farsighted appointments this government and its… Read more
Academia: from inefficient effectiveness to efficient ineffectiveness Friday January 31, 2020 By Nicholas Gruen Features If, as I think, academia has gone from being inefficient but effective to being efficient but ineffective (a proposition I won’t defend here), the mechanism… Read more
Government 2.0 — the substance behind the semantics Monday October 28, 2019 By Pia Andrews Communications & Technology The opportunity of Government 2.0 is the ability to reimagine government and work towards fundamentally better public outcomes in accordance with the values and culture… Read more
Every $1 spent on the Census brings $6 to the economy, report finds Wednesday September 25, 2019 By Shannon Jenkins Economy & Industry For every $1 invested in the Census, $6 of value was generated to the Australian economy, according to consultancy firm Lateral Economics. The Australian Bureau… Read more
Premium Expert briefings Using 'challenge prizes' to develop great innovation policy. It's not about the winners, but diverse solutions to a well-defined problem Friday June 28, 2019 By Tris Dyson and Oliver Cansdell Features Margarine, canned goods and modern billiard balls all resulted from national innovation challenges. After fuelling much of the competition that defined the early 20th century… Read more
Accountability: from above and below Wednesday June 26, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Editors' Picks The buck stops with you and the problems start with you: Are you after accountability or accountability theatre?… Read more
We know WHAT we need to do. Will someone tell us HOW? Thursday March 21, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Features When policy problems are complex, we need to understand and learn from the front line. Nicholas Gruen explains ways to improve the early, middle and… Read more
What is a ‘policy hack’? Wednesday January 23, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Editors' Picks New ways of looking at our complex world can lead to policy hacks with clear and easily identifiable benefits. But do they stand apart from… Read more
Towards a new professionalism Monday November 26, 2018 By Nicholas Gruen Editors' Picks An evaluator-general should lead a renewed focus on understanding the impact of government programs, independent of their delivery and insulated from the demand for appropriate… Read more
'Being evidence-based is really, really hard': shifting evaluation culture Friday June 15, 2018 By David Donaldson Editors' Picks Too often evaluation is an afterthought and the report sits in a drawer. Two experts discuss how to shift attitudes to make evidence-based policymaking meaningful. Read more
Nicholas Gruen: hacking wellbeing for the biggest returns Thursday October 19, 2017 By Nicholas Gruen Features There are some commonsense 'hacks' government could use to improve Australians' wellbeing, argues economist Nicholas Gruen. Read more
